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High Court Should Clarify Anthony List

Opportunities to fix U.S. Supreme Court opinions can be infrequent. Very infrequent. It took until 2018 for the court to abrogate its 1944 Japanese-internment-camp opinion in Korematsu v. United States. Now the high court has an opportunity to clarify a 2014 opinion that has caused confusion. ♦♦♦ Meet Kaley Chiles. In Chiles v. Salazar, Colorado-resident Chiles brings a First Amendment challenge. She wants to engage in speech that Colorado bans. The Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected her First Amendment challenge. Chiles has ...

Simple Games

Today I would like to try an experiment. Before you read this get a piece of paper and write down all of the simple games that you can think of. Many of them require a minimum of equipment. After you have made your list, then read and compare. First, I begin with a tag. There are all types of tags. One of my favorites is freeze tag. Someone calls out the word “freeze” and you have to stop right where you are and in whatever pose you are in. the person who is “it” may take three steps. If they can touch someone, then they are it. If not, it starts all over again. My children ...

What Does The American Legion Represent?

Recently on March 15, the American Legion celebrated its 106th birthday and is heralded as the oldest and largest veterans’ group in the USA. The organization was formed in 1919 by a group of veterans who had served in World War I and returned home to discover that many soldiers were experiencing despair upon leaving the military. The founding members decided that a club designed to allow these men who had experienced the same mission, and shared the same levels of patriotism for their country would be ultimately beneficial. The Legion was formed and many of the first posts to ...

Can The U.S. Go It Alone?

There has always been an isolationist streak in American politics. Among others, our first President, George Washington, in his farewell address, cautioned the new nation about becoming entangled in the affairs of other nations. But, the history of our country and the world changed. Whether we liked it or not, we were thrust into world affairs in the twentieth century by both World War I and World War II. America became the leader of the free world. In that capacity, we forged international agreements and alliances to keep the peace. We also encouraged international trade and ...

Coping With Firefighter And EMT Shortages

Watching the recent fires in California was frightening, as were the fires in Hawaii last year, but the firefighters there were heroic. None of us want to believe something like that could ever happen to us. However, if it did we would certainly want people like those we saw coming to the rescue in California rushing to save us. The same is true regarding accidents and other medical emergencies. The pressing question is - are there enough nearby firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) available to rescue us? Consider yourself fortunate if you’ve never had to make a ...

Police Force Funding Nears Breaking Point

In the town of Chautauqua, outside of the village of Mayville on Route 430 where I reside, we are happy to have the most highly police patrolled area in the county. With Sheriff headquarters located very nearby, multiple Sheriff and other police cruisers drive by my home many times per hour of the day and regularly at night. The nearby towns close to Mayville also have all hours Sheriff road patrols due to the geographic proximity to the county police force and county jail. Our police patrol service is included with my county tax and is paid for by every county taxpayer. No extra ...